Rags Designer Serial Killers
Convicted serial killers by country Afghanistan Abdullah Shah: killed at least 20 travelers on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad serving under Zardad Khan; also killed his wife; executed on 20 April 2004.
I've written a few threads about 'modern and possibly still active' serial killers, including LISK and The Jeff Davis 8 murders. But I'd like to discuss about pretty recent serial killer cases, where we actually know, or can strongly suspect, that the killer really is currently active; some of them I already mentioned, some of them not. A similar thread was posted sometime ago, but didn't lead to much discussion. The FBI still estimates that there are between 30 and 50 serial killers active in the USA alone at any given time, but here are some particular active cases.
It is quite possible that there is a serial killer active in Florida, targeting African American transgender women. The first victim was thirty six years old Celine Walker, found shot to death in her hotel room in February this year. On June 1st, Antash'a English was found shot in an alleyway, between two abandoned homes in Jacksonville neighborhood. She was rushed to the hospital, but later died from her injuries. On June 24th, twenty four years old Cathalina James was gunned down at a Quality Inn and Suites Hotel in Jacksonville. On July 19th, twenty seven years old Sasha Garden was found dead in the back of the Reserve at Lake Buchanan Apartments. Also, a feminine gay man, thirty years old Jessie Sumlar, was found shot to death in his apartment, 12 hours prior to the murder of Sasha Garden. Reportedly, the murder weapon was found left near the door. At least one newspaper has linked the victims to the same touring drag show circuit. Still, the local police department has stated that they do not believe the murders are connected, and are investigating them as separate cases. They haven't named any suspects, but said that in James case, they are looking for 'a man in a beige car'.
A transgender woman was also shot multiple times in her home on June 8th this year, but survived. Local activists said the shooting appeared to be a domestic dispute, and they don't believe the incident to be related to others.
Paige Mahogany, the head of the Jacksonville Transgender Awareness project, stated: 'The transgender community feels like there's a target on their backs. We don't feel safe in Jacksonville.'
Though it is arguable is this serial killer currently active, since a year has passed since the last confirmed murder, that is certainly possible, and this is a far more recent case than plenty of other more well-known modern serial killer cases. It all started in April 2017, in Lumberton, North Carolina, when the police was called over due to a strange smell coming from an abandoned property. They went inside to investigate, abd discovered the rotting woman's corpse. The victim was eventually identified as thirty two years old Christina Bennett. Police captain Terry Parket said that the crime scene was the worst he had ever seen in his 22 year career.
Later that same day, the body of a second woman, Rhonda Jones, was found across the street, stuffed in a trash can.
Rhonda Jones' friend, Megan Oxendine, spoke to the local TV news the day after the murder. She paid tribute to Rhonda, and said that she was a 'sweet and kind' person. Just three weeks later, Megan Oxendine herself was murdered. Her body was found dumped about 500 feet away from the location where Rhonda Jones' body was found. Megan's mother suspects that her daughter might have known something about the other deaths, leading to the killer going after her.
In all three cases, the medical examiner was unable to determine the approximate time or cause of death, due to the decomposition. However, it is likely that all three victims were beaten, possibly raped, and either strangled or bludgeoned to death.
Also, two women have disappeared from in the midst of the murders (both in July 2017): forty one years old Cynthia Jacobs and twenty years old Abby Paterson. Interesting enough, Cythia Jacobs' sister claims that Cynthia was the last person to see Megan Oxendine alive. Also, Abby Patterson was last seen alive less than 3000 feet from the three aforementioned crime scenes.
Reportedly, all the victims struggled with drug addiction, leading to theories that a drug or prostitution ring is involved in the murders. Some also suggested that this case could be related to two unsolved murders that took place in Lumberton back in 2010. Two women, both prostitutes, were beaten to death, their bodies found a mile apart.
It appears that there is a serial killer and rapist currently active in Detroit too. I first wrote about that case a few months ago. To recap: back on May 11th 2018, two young African American women were found dead by waste collectors, their bodies dumped in two different dumpsters, about fifteen miles apart, and covered with trash. They had both been beaten, bound raped, and stabbed to death.
Sadly, the case has been pretty underreported; presumably due to a lack of leads and because the victims were found in a bad neighborhood. (Plus, Detroit has a pretty high murder rate, and some cases slip through the tracks.) I learned of it from several local residents that I know, and it has been reported in some minor local newspaper and radio stations. The autopsy showed that the first victim had been dead for about three weeks before her body was found (meaning that the body was originally dumped somewhere else), while the second victim had been dead for about 3 to 5 days before her body was found.
No clothing, IDs and personal items were found on the scene. Both victims were eventually identified throuugh fingerprints. The first victim was twenty two years old Shanna Morgan, while the second victim was twenty eight years old Cheyenne Jones. They were both high-risk victims, with a long criminal record for prostitution and other offences. Sadly, nobody reported them missing. In both cases, the rape kit reportedly recovered no semen, though the traces of spermicide (commonly applied to condoms) and K-Y Jelly (commonly used as lubricant) were found. Plus, the trash from the dumpster contaminated most of the forensic evidence. The killer is clearly careful, and methodical. Some started calling him 'Detroit Ripper', though few were actually sure that a serial killer was on the loose (since the victims led dangerous lives and that neighborhood was no stranger to violent crimes).
Unfortunately, the case doesn't stop there. On June 28th 2018, twenty six years old Michelle Johnson, a resident of Rosedale Park, Detroit, and also an African American woman, was found dead in her home by her live-in boyfriend, after he returned home from work. Like the first two victims, Michelle had been beaten, bound, raped and stabbed to death. However, Michelle was a low-risk victim: she had no criminal record, had a steady job as a website designer, lived in a pretty safe, upper middle class neighborhood, etc. The killer also ransacked her home, stealing most of the valuables (cash, jewelry, TV, DVD, laptop, and even a gun, reportedly owned by the victim herself). Allegedly, he also scrubbed her body clean with bleach, and there were no signs of forced entry found on the crime scene, meaning that the victim either knew the killer, or he somehow talked his way in. Also, the phone lines to Michelle's home had been cut.
It appears that the Detroit Ripper has 'moved on' to low-risk victims. Reportedly, it has been determined that Michelle Johnson was murdered with the same type of knife used to murder Shanna Morgan and Cheyenne Jones, and that the same type of rope was used to bind all three victims. (Those details were never made public, and the first two murders were very underreported to begin with, excluding the possibility of a copycat.) Sadly, there are still no reported leads nor recent news about the case, and all three murders remain unsolved, as well as underreported.
Serial Killers In America
My write-up about the case (the second half, after the write-up on Benjamin Tony Atkins; the third murder didn't take place yet):
There are also some theories that a serial killer has been on the loose in Chicago for years. At the very least, it is very likely that one perpetrator has gotten away with murders multiple times. There has been a high number of unsolved strangulation deaths reported in Chicago area over the last 10-15 years, most of the victims being African American and Hispanic women, and by all accounts, it is still going on. Not gonna copy-paste it here because I've written about it in a thread posted a few months ago, but here are the links to the articles and reports about the murders, as well as the Reddit thread I wrote about them.
Xara Web Designer Serial
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chicago-women-strangled-20180103-story,
Any questions? Comments? Theories? Info about other serial killers (not necessarily just in the USA) who actually are currently active, and still pose danger? Feel free to discuss.